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@uitrit tartes stwt @frn W. D. GRIMSHAW, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY. LenersParam: No. 67,751, daad August 1s, 1867.

IMPROVED MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING CHAINCABLE.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, W. D. GnIMsHAw, of Newark, in the county of Essex,and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful improvement' onMachinery for Manufacturing Chain or Chain Cable, of which the followingis arfull, clear, and exa-ct description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing forming part of this specification, and in which-Figures 1 and 2 represent sectional elevations of a machine constructedaccording to my improvement, and

Figure 3 a plan of the lower` portion of said machine.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My invention consists in manufacturing chain or chain cable, link bylink, by meansof a quadrangular arrangement of sliding dies operating inpairs I at intervals, first to hold a ready-made link whilst it is beingthreaded or crossed by a. blank used to form the next link, andafterwards to constitute a mandrel within the partially-formed link, andto bend or prepare the same ready for closing; and said invention alsoconsists in a combination of opposite obliquely operating hammers withdies working, as described, to close the blank or finish the link; andfurthermore consists in 'a combination of eccentrics working in pairsfor operating the dies at'intervals, as hereinbefore referred to, andspring and drop-lever to the one pair of said dies for automaticallyestablishing grip on the made link, and after projection of a mandrel towithin the `partially-formed new link, as hereinafter more fullyexplained. a

Referring to the accompanying drawing, A represents the bed of themachine, and B B C the framework thereon. On the bed A are arranged twopairs of die-tables, D D', forming what may be termed a. rectangularstock, and which may be set inward towards a common centre to meet `therequirements of'wear by means of set-screws, a a. These die-tables carrydies E lil/,having a radially sliding movement towards or from saidcentre, said dies being operated by eccentrics `l? F. The one set ofthese dies E is or may be of concave or grooved formation at their innerends to hold'and fashion the links, as hereinafter described, while thedies E', which operate at right angles to theV first set of dies E, havemandrel formations c at their forward ends. The eccentrics F', thatcontrol the action of the dies E', are secured to shafts d d', linkedtogether so as to move in unison by means of cranks e el, andconnecting-rod the movement of said shafts being .controlled by a handor drop-lever, G, made fast to the one shaft d, and spring It,connecting the one crank e with the fixed point z'. similar arrangementof shafts jj coupled by cranks .7c k and rod Z, and worked by a lever,H, serves to work the eccentrics F that operate the dies E.v Theselast-named dies, on their upper surfaces, have, the one of them, agroove, m, ,which may be throughtont its whole length, while theopposite one of said dies has a similar groove, m', for a. portion ofits length in front. In the manufacture of chain or chain cable, a linkor two of ready-made chain is introduced from above through the centralaperture in the bed by hooking it on to a crane consisting, say, of ahook-end Irod, I., pivoted to a lever, J", working on a fulcrum as at a,and having an upand-down motion controlled by any suitable stops toadjust it to its work, say, for instance, by catch-slots n n in anupright, K. The -rod I of the crane being first raised, the ready-madelink, or upper one, P, of a short series of such, is hooked on to thelower endof said rod, which is then lowered till the lever Istrikes theupper extremity of the one slot n, which adjusts the link P to itsproper position for the passage of a blank, L, `through it. The dies E Eare then made to grip the link P, us represented in lig. 2, by4 lettingloose, from any suitable catch or stop, the lever G, which causes thespring 7:, by its tension and connection with the crank e, to establishsaid grip. The heated blankA L, (see iig. 1,) ofl the length required toform a link, there being any number of such blanks in the course ofbeing heated for similar after-treatment, being entered along the groovem of the one die E through the link l?, and into, at its one end; thegroove m of the opposite die E, a downward pull, by any suitableapplication of force or mechanism, is made upon the ready-made link orlinks in lower connection with the linke-P', which causes the blank L tobe partially turned or bent up on either side as it is drawn downwardsthrough the grooved ends b of the dies E, till the link P is clear ofthe dies E', when the latter are moved forwards or inwards from theposition shown for their front ends or mandrel formations c c, by blacklines in figs. 2 and 3, to the position shown for said ends by red linesin the last-named figure, bringing the formations c c together so as toform a single mandrel. This forward movement of the dies E is or may beproduced automatically by the dropping of` the lever G, on said diesbeing released from their grip on the link P, through the 'lowering ofthe latter, as described. The mandrel or mandrel formations c c thusbrought in contact are securely held thereby, in the dropping of thelever G, the eccentrics F being brought toy assume the position ofdead-centres.relatively to the sliding motion of the dies. This gives asteadiness to the formations c c, when set to constitute a mandrel overor on which the new link is being or-about to beformed. After this theleverH is shifted so as to turn the cams or eccentrics F F to a similardead-centre position relatively tothe diesE E, which are by suoh actionmoved from the position represented for their for. ward ends b by' blacklines in iigs. l and 3, to the position shown for them by red lines inthe last-mentioned figure, said dies in thus moving finishing theturning up of the sides or legs of the link-blank L, which is shown byred lines in tig. 3, as so bent or turned. Said link-blank held bythedies E E, and with the mandrel c c,

within it, is then ready for closing at its upper or open end, `which isdone by stamps or hammers M M', having an oblique downward thrust orstrike, and operating simultaneously on the upper or exposed ends. ofthe link-blank to close them over the mandrel or formations c c, and by,if necessary, a rapid repetition of blows effecting a perfect welding ofthem, which {inishes the link, that by moving back the several dies bytheir 'respective eccentrics and levers to their original positions, andadjusting by the crane said new link to its proper angle and position tobe clamped by the dies E E', serves, in its turn, as did the link P, tocontinue the process by the passage of another straight blank throughit, to be operated upon as described in thev treatment of the blank L.The hammers M M may be worked by steam, air,V or any other suitablepower acting on pistons working in'eylinders N N,'controlled by anyconvenient valve motion O operated by a lever, P, to stop, start?w andregulate the throw or -stroke of the hammers. As such mechanism may beofl the character usually applied to steam-hammers or stamps, it isunnecessary here to further refer to the same otherwise than to remarkthat as it is important the hammers should work in precise unison, thevalves to either cylinder N N should either directly or through theirconnections be capable of separate adjustment. Any suitable take-upmotion may be used on or by which to wind or collect the chain or chaincable as it is made, and to give the requisite downward pull to thelinks griped in succession by the dies E E', to form the new link asdescribed.

What is here claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the dies E E and E' E', arranged for actiontogether, or relatively to each other, as described, the one set of diesE E being provided with mandrel formations c c, and the other pair ofdies E E with grooves m m or other equivalent guides to the blank,substantially as specified.

i 2. The combination with the sliding-dies E E and ,E E of the obliquelyoperating hammers M M', for operation together in the manufacture ofchain or chain cable, essentially as herein set forth.

3. In combination with the sliding dies E Epand E E the eccentrica F Fand F F', linked together in pairs, and either pair operated atintervals, as described, also the one set of eccentrics being controlledin their action by a. spring, h, and drop-lever G, or the equivalents ofsuch devices, substantially as specified.

W. D. GRIMSHAW Witnesses:

J. W. Gooiuns, G. W. REED.

